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Sergei Morozov reacts to the sight of his daughter Sasha after returning from a 2 ½ year sailing journey around the world on Wednesday at the Royal Nova Scotia Yacht Squadron. (TIM KROCHAK / Staff)

Sergei Morozov reacts to the sight of his daughter Sasha after returning from a 2 ½ year sailing journey around the world on Wednesday at the Royal Nova Scotia Yacht Squadron. (TIM KROCHAK / Staff)

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Sergei Morozov embraces his daughter, Sasha, after arriving on his 35' sailboat Hikari some 2 ½ years after leaving Halifax. Morozov has completed a solo circumnavigation of the globe, returning to the Royal Nova Scotia Yacht Squadron on Wednesday. (TIM KROCHAK / Staff)

Sergei Morozov embraces his daughter, Sasha, after arriving on his 35' sailboat Hikari some 2 ½ years after leaving Halifax. Morozov has completed a solo circumnavigation of the globe, returning to the Royal Nova Scotia Yacht Squadron on Wednesday. (TIM KROCHAK / Staff)

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Sergei Morozov, left, chats with a friend as relatives and friends prepare perogies to celebrate his return from a sailing journey around the world. (TIM KROCHAK / Staff)

Sergei Morozov, left, chats with a friend as relatives and friends prepare perogies to celebrate his return from a sailing journey around the world. (TIM KROCHAK / Staff)

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Sergei Morozov said that his cat Tsila accompanied him for his entire voyage around the world. Morozov figures the feline was the first Canadian cat to circumnavigate the globe. (TIM KROCHAK / Staff)

Sergei Morozov said that his cat Tsila accompanied him for his entire voyage around the world. Morozov figures the feline was the first Canadian cat to circumnavigate the globe. (TIM KROCHAK / Staff)

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Sergei Morozov displays the remnants of the Canadian flag he was given when he left Halifax on Dec. 5, 2011. (TIM KROCHAK / Staff)

Sergei Morozov displays the remnants of the Canadian flag he was given when he left Halifax on Dec. 5, 2011. (TIM KROCHAK / Staff)

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Sergei Morozov is seen aboard his 35' sailboat Hikari. Two-and-a-half-years after leaving Halifax, Morozov has completed a solo circumnavigation of the globe. He returned to the Royal Nova Scotia Yacht Squadron on Wednesday. (TIM KROCHAK / Staff)

Sergei Morozov is seen aboard his 35' sailboat Hikari. Two-and-a-half-years after leaving Halifax, Morozov has completed a solo circumnavigation of the globe. He returned to the Royal Nova Scotia Yacht Squadron on Wednesday. (TIM KROCHAK / Staff)

In 2011, with winter on the horizon, Sergei Morozov sailed from Nova Scotia in his 1970s-era boat and began an around-the-world journey.

On Wednesday, his solo sea voyage finally came to an end where it began — in Halifax — but the Russian-born skipper already has his sights set on another arduous adventure.

Morozov wants to make a splash with a proposed globe-crossing voyage in a rowboat — just not right now.

Guiding his weathered vessel, Hikari, through winds, changing sea conditions and ocean currents, and then back to this little corner of the world, was no small feat. Morozov, 49, arrived safe and sound at the Royal Nova Scotia Yacht Squadron before noon.

His boat had sliced raw fish hanging on one side and a noticeably tattered Canadian flag — a departing gift from friends in Halifax — clinging to a pole in the stern.

Morozov told onlookers at the yacht club he ate far too much fish and canned food during his 21/2-year sailing trip. A visitor quipped the man could enjoy a steak Wednesday night.

Dressed in a fleece jacket and fleece pants, Morozov appeared fit, with a face that was slightly windburned. He acknowledged he’s happy to have finished his trip, which he described as a childhood dream, but said he’s also a bit sad his high-seas experience is over.

There were several challenges. Navigating his vessel between Nova Scotia and Bermuda in December 2011 took almost three weeks.

His used 10.7-metre sailboat, built in 1972, needed new sails when he reached Bermuda.

That initial leg of the journey was done in rough weather, said Morozov. One stormy part of the trip tossed his boat’s bow down at such a severe angle, he thought for a few moments his life was about to end, he said.

Morozov, a trained sea navigator, said his sailboat was light and fast — too light and too fast for the open ocean.

He survived the Halifax-to-Bermuda leg and had a joyous reunion Wednesday afternoon with his adult daughter, Sasha, whom he hadn’t seen in more than two years. They gave each other a long, emotional hug on a dock by the boat and then retreated on board for some private conversation.

Morozov said he’s a landed immigrant. He contacted a Canadian customs office upon his arrival and awaited an officer’s visit.

Though Morozov’s return attracted local media coverage, photojournalists weren’t the only ones taking pictures at the yacht club. The Hikari’s captain grabbed his camera from inside the boat and took pictures of photographers snapping shots of him.

Russian pals and other friends welcomed Morozov back to sunny Halifax with a dockside picnic lunch of traditional Russian perogies, other food and beverages.

As for his planned solo rowing voyage, Morozov doesn’t know when it might happen. He said it will take a lot of money to reach the starting line of that gruelling journey.

“I need six, eight months for to be ready, but it’s a good project,” Morozov told The Chronicle Herald.